Genesis
by Nightmare's Pen
Summary: After the world's near-miss with the apocalypse, the supernatural has been publicly recognized, and hunting is now considered a legal profession. While on a hunt at the request of Castiel, Dean discovers something thought to have been hunted to extinction in the days of the Old Testament. AU, Rated T for smatterings of language and some violence - might be M later
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N:** This is my first fanfic, so I hope you'll bear with me. _

_This will be a creature!Sam fic, probably a wingfic_

_The pairing in this story is still undetermined; it may eventually have a proper pairing, but for now it will remain gen._

_This story is set after many events canon is the show, but with one major difference: Sam will not have been present in the referenced events from the show or the Winchester's lives._

_Special thanks to the one who gives me advice and inspiration- thanks so much for all your support, you know who you are!_

_I have no beta, all mistakes are my own_

* * *

_**Warnings: **This story is rated M due to some strong language and violence. possible trigger warnings due to references to past torture and the after effects of the aforementioned._

**_Disclaimer: _**_These characters are not mine, nor am I making a profit from any of this. Hats off to Kripke and crew for giving us such a fantastic sandbox to fool around in._

_~This will contain many references to Biblical events, particularly from the Old Testament. I have taken a heap of creative liberties and twisted things around to serve the story. This was not meant to be a tampering or desecration of scripture, simply as a backbone for some elements in my writing._

* * *

After the world's near-miss with the apocalypse, the supernatural has been publicly recognized, and hunting is now considered a legal profession. While on a hunt at the request of Castiel, Dean discovers something thought to have been hunted to extinction in the days of the Old Testament.

* * *

_**Prologue:**_

23 days, 12 hours. That was roughly how long it had been since Dean's last hunt. After day eight, he had taken to sleeping in the back seat of the impala; it may not be overly comfortable, but it was cheap. With hunts running low the past few months, he couldn't really afford much hotel time. Even being one of the best in the hunting network, Dean was still having a hard time. Usually the Administration or one of his contacts would have set him up with a gig by now, but there weren't many monsters to be heard of at this point.

During the time before he began hunting alone, his father had warned him multiple times about the fluctuations in the business. Sometimes, usually only once a decade or so, monsters would become more active, and provide a sudden influx of hunts. No one was sure why this cycle happened, they had begun around a hundred years ago; but the need for good hunters caused a welcome surge in business. However, after all those jobs were over and the monster population was beaten back, there was a period of stagnation.

For some reason, after these "bubbles" occurred, it was as if most of the supernatural entities left went into hiding. The lack of jobs made it difficult for many hunters to keep themselves afloat, and every time it happened a handful of Dean's fellow hunters would drop off the map. Some of the few names to disappear after the last fluctuation were people he recognized as contacts of his dad's.

The last time Dean had heard from his father, John had been closing in on the demon responsible for Mary Winchester's death. John Winchester didn't make it out of that confrontation, but the demon sure hadn't either. That had been nearly 4 years ago; he had time to adjust, but that road of thinking was still something of an open wound.

Now, Dean was 27 years old, on his own, with a long list of contacts and a very impressive résumé for a hunter his age. He ran a hand down his face, sighed, and sat up from his cramped position on the Impala's back seat. Opening the door of the sleek black classic, he got out and leaned against her side.

"Just you and me Baby," he muttered, stretching his neck, " just like always."

* * *

Several hundred miles of uneventful blacktop later, his phone rang.

"You got a minute?"

He immediately recognized the gruff voice on the other end of the call. "Bobby? Didn't expect to hear from you this soon."

"Yeah,well, I found you a gig."

"Really?" He asked, interested. Anything to get him out of bumfuck nowhere Wyoming would be fine by him.

Dean heard a huff on the other end if the line. "Would I be callin' you if I didn't?"

He grunted at that, adjusting his grip on the Impala's steering wheel. "So what's the job?"

"It wouldn't hurt to make contact other than gettin' jobs you know," Bobby groused, words running over his question. " I don't think it'd kill you to check in every now and again."

Dean opened his mouth to reply with his usual excuses, but the older hunter just talked over him.

"Anyways, Cas showed up yesterday, said some important demon is stirring up the water, wants you to help him look into it."

Dean raised an eyebrow. Cas usually came straight to him with jobs. But then again, with the sigils on his ribs, angels couldn't find him without some serious overtime. "Cas showed up at your place? Did he forget how to use his cell phone?"

"He said this thing, whatever it is, is big. Said he thought the demons may have had somebody watching him, and something about phones not being secure enough."

Dean responded with a sarcastic,"Aren't we using phones now?"

He could practically hear Bobby's eye roll.

"Yeah, well, I don't exactly have any other method of gettin' to ya, so I figured I'd just tell you something was up. So now that that information is passed, where the hell are you anyways?"

Glancing down the road for any signs, Dean took a moment to reply "somewhere in Wyoming, I think a couple hours out of Casper. I could be at your place in around two days."

An answering grunt and a rough reminder to "haul ass" was all he got before the line whent dead. Dean's mouth twitched up in a small smile as he tossed his phone into the passenger seat and settled in for another long day of driving.

* * *

Pulling into the salvage yard 48 hours later, Dean dragged himself out of the Impala and worked his stiff muscles. Grabbing his duffel bag from the trunk, he strode to the porch and found Bobby waiting for him. Recognizing the small flask the older man held out, Dean immediately took it and swallowed a mouthful of holy water.

"Really Bobby." He said,"We still doin' this?" Despite his grumbling, he also took the small silver knife offered, making a small cut on the inside of his forearm. "We done with the formalities now?"

The older hunter adjusted his faded cap, a small,wry smile marking his weathered face. " 'Bout time you got your ass back here," he grumbled,stepping aside and waving Dean into the house, "What took you so damn long?"

Dean laughed and shuffled his way inside. " Nice to know you missed me."

* * *

"I would've thought Cas would be here by now,"Bobby muttered, appearing in the study with a cup of coffee in hand,"hope he hasn't run into any problems."

Dean eyed the coffee, looking up from the leather-bound text he was going through as he lounged on the couch." Well, I've done the whole praying gig already, so other than actually doing a summons, which I don't think he'd appreciate, I think we're just gonna have to wait a bit for him to get his feathered ass down here.

"Oh,Thanks." He took the mug Bobby held out to him with a nod,"I'll probably be needing this."

A snort came from the older man. "When do you ever not need it?"

"Very funny."

Dean's eyes drifted back to the worn pages in front of him, and he heard Bobby begin rummaging around on his desk.

"Did Cas give you any information other than a demon getting rowdy?" he asked. "Any specifics? I think it would be helpful to actually know what we're dealing with, I mean-"

"Dean."

Both hunters turned around abruptly at the new voice.

"Cas," Dean greeted, " 'bout time you showed up."

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_Much of whether or not I will continue posting chapters of this story will be decided by feedback: I will definitely be posting several more chapters, and from there on we'll see how it goes. All feedback is appreciated, and I hope you'll drop me a line about how I'm doing._

_~Thank you!~_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: **Alright, so here's the next chapter. The next one should be up before the week is up._

_As I have no beta, all mistakes are my own._

_I'd like to again thank my pal who helps out with much of the behind the scenes of this story_

_special thanks to **sonya. kitzmiller **and **family-and-free-will **for the reviews and follows!_

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **see first chapter_

**_Warnings:_**_ see first chapter_

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"I came as soon as I could. There is still unrest in Heaven among those who sympathized with Zachariah." The angel gave an acknowledging nod to Bobby in greeting, then turned back to Dean. "I am afraid that the demon who had been brought to my attentions is planning something of a large scale. Larger than what we are accustomed to dealing with."

Dean's brow furrowed, and he and Bobby shared a look. "And that means what, exactly?"

Castiel took a moment to reply. "This demon has been imprisoning creatures. We are not sure of her intent, but we believe that she has been using their souls as a source of power."

"How does that work?" Dean asked, "Don't the souls of monsters go straight to purgatory when they are killed?"

Bobby glanced at Dean. "Yeah, but there's several rituals to keep that from happening. I can't say I know of any that will absorb a souls energy directly though."

The angel nodded. "Whatever ritual she has been using allows her transfer the power from the souls into her own."

Bobby frowned. "How powerful of a demon are we talking here?"

The angel turned to the older hunter. "I assume both of you have noticed the strange cycle of monster populations in the past century?"

Both of the hunters shared a glance and nodded.

"Are you saying this demon is behind them?" Dean asked. "How powerful _is_ this thing?"

"Quite powerful," Castiel said, "but the demons power fades with time. We do have that advantage."

"Higher level demons ain't no picnic to take down if they're gassed up on souls or not," cut in Bobby, "and given the obvious scale of the operation, there's gotta be a load of lower level demons to reckon with too."

Castiel blinked and shifted his weight to one side, the collar of his trench coat slipping slightly. "I believe that those still loyal to our cause will be able to take care of the majority of them, but I would greatly appreciate your help in the matter of taking down this particular demon."

"If this demon is having to repeat her ritual to collect the souls every ten years or so, don't we still have a good three years to wait until this thing's power drains off?" Bobby asked, crossing his arms.

Cas shook his head. "The demon has been very active these past few months, this is what drew our attention to her; she has lost much of the power gained from the last ritual. We have had some of our soldiers looking into the matter of the population shifts since they began, but until now this demon has kept herself well warded against detection."

Dean shifted his position and ran a hand down his face. "If this bitch is behind all of the weird supernatural population issues, how is she even causing them? It's not like this demon could just..." He paused for a second, searching for the right word. "She couldn't just _compel_ the monsters to suddenly start breeding, right?"

"There is another ritual we believe her to be using,this one very old and very..." He paused for a second, looking a bit uncomfortable."Costly. This one allows her to open a gate to purgatory."

Bobby's eyes widened as he recognized the spell Castiel was referencing. " How's she finding a sacrificial soul strong enough for that? Everything I have on it says the soul needs to be 'a son of God.' That's an angel, right?"

Castiel sighed. "She has not had access to an angels soul for almost twenty years. I..I do not know where she has been finding souls powerful enough to use in this ritual, but this simply reinforces our need to eliminate her soon."

Silence filled the room as the two hunters took in the weight of their discussion with the angel.

"Well," Dean said slowly, "where do we start?"

* * *

Dean was sharpening his demon killing blade in the basement later that evening when Bobby trudged down the stairs.

"What do you think about calling in a few other hunters for this one," he asked, "maybe Ellen and Rufus?"

Dean looked up from his blade. "Uh... I guess it couldn't hurt. Is Ellen hunting again? After, you know...I thought she quit the business and was running a new roadhouse?"

Bobby nodded in understanding. Ellen's daughter Jo had been killed by hellhounds a few years ago. "Yeah. She called me looking for a hunt about a month ago. Said she needed some time away from the crowds at the bar."

Dean huffed. " Yeah, it'd be nice to have a few others at our back I guess. Any others in mind?"

"Well,like i said, Ellen, Rufus, and maybe Gordon or Garth. I'll see if either of them are anywhere in the area. Where'd Cas say the demon was exactly? Kansas?"

Pausing a moment before he answered, Dean nodded. "Yeah. He said she was holed up someplace outside of Kansas City."

Bobby scowled. The entire state of Kansas held dark memories for the hunters. Hosting the site of the near-apocalypse would do things to any state's reputation, not to mention the Winchester's own family history. "Well I guess we had better get a move on in the next couple of days then."

Dean nodded absently and went back to taking care of the weapon in front of him. Bobby gazed at him thoughtfully for a moment before turning to go back up the stairs to the main house, but he was stopped by a loud exclamation and the sound of a knife clattering to the floor.

"_Dammit_ Cas!"

Turning sharply, the older hunter huffed out a chuckle as he saw Dean glaring daggers at the newly appeared angel.

" I apologize," Castiel said tonelessly, " It was not my intention to startle you."

Dean sighed heavily and bent to retrieve the fallen weapon. "You can't just do that to people." He hissed under his breath, running a hand through his short crop of hair. "You're lucky you didn't end up with this stuck in your face."

The angel tilted his head slightly. "I have apologized, is there something else I need to do?"

"Yeah," Dean snapped, "Quit popping out of nowhere and giving me damn freakin' heart attacks!"

"There is nothing wrong with the rhythm of your heart."

Bobby snorted at the expression on Dean's face.

Castiel blinked and a flicker of understanding crossed his face. "That was not meant as a literal statement."

Dean twitched a smile at that. "The terminator is finally learning," he quipped. "You have any more info for us on this demon?"

"Yes. We have gathered some idea of the number of lower level demons working under her. My own followers will be able to eliminate the vast majority, but it may be wise for you to enlist the help of a few trustworthy hunters as well."

"That should work," Bobby spoke up, "We were thinkin' about calling a few others to watch our asses."

Castiel nodded. "Good. Our forces are already rallying, we should be ready for an assault within the next four days. After we have cleared the most of demons, I will return and accompany you to confront their leader."

Dean's jaw tightened a bit. "It'll be a stretch to get ready on such short notice. Bobby?"

"I gotta call in a few favors," the elder hunter said, "but we might could do it."

Turning to the angel, Dean asked, "Do we have a name for this thing yet?"

"Yes. Her name is Zenesre."

"Alright then, first things first." Picking up his knife and moving towards the stairs, Dean looked over his shoulder at the other two occupants of the basement. "Bobby, you can make some phone calls, and I'll get started on stocking the arsenal."

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**_A/N:_**_A__nd there's the first proper chapter. As I said, any mistakes are my own; if there any painfully obvious things I've managed to miss, please be so kind as to let me know how I'm doing.__  
_

_any and all feedback is greatly appreciated, so don't be afraid to drop me a line_

**_~thanks!~_**


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: **Here be chapter 3- my apologies again for the delay, I've decided to update this story once a week on Sundays until I__ get farther ahead._

_All mistakes are my own. Special thanks to the one who helps me get my thoughts in line and all around inspires me- you know who you are!_

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **see first chapter_

_**Warnings: **see first chapter_

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Three days later saw Dean Winchester sitting around the table in his and Bobby's shared hotel room with four other hunters. Bobby was on his left, the older man had just gotten up to grab a few more beers, Ellen was on his right, and Gordon was sitting across from him. There was a map lying on the center of the table with a few scratches of red sharpie marking where their target and potential approaches were.

"Alright," Bobby said gruffly, settling down in his chair again and speaking over the low drone of idle hunter's talk. "Let's get down to business."

The small talk ended abruptly and Bobby gestured to Dean. He blinked at the other hunters who were now watching him; it took him a moment, but he realized that he had been unofficially placed in the role of leader.

"Oh, uh.. Right. Ok, so Zenesre is holed up here," he picked up the previously discarded sharpie and poked one of the red marks on the map. "She has some lower level underlings we've got to go through to get to her, but Cas and his guys upstairs should be able to take them out." Dean moved the pen as he spoke and stabbed it at another point on the large paper. "We are here right now, so tomorrow, after Cas gives us the all clear, we'll have about a three hour drive."

When we get there, the lower level demons will be gone, so we just have to meet up with Cas and take down Zenesre. Ellen and Gordon, uh, I want you to hang back when we go in; watch out for our asses, just in case anything was missed. After Zenesre's gone, well comb back over the complex. We need to keep an eye out for human survivors, there's usually some back up hosts present where there's lots of demons."

When were on our way in and out, we'll be taking this highway until we get to here,"he said, following a small road on the map with his marker,"and then we branch off onto this access road that will take us to the compound. We should be good to come back the same way, but if we think there's a chance of being followed, there's another road here," he trailed the end of the pen along the map at another spot close by, "where we should be able to lose any tails."

Dean looked at Bobby after he was done, referring to the older hunter to make sure he hadn't missed anything. They had polished over over the plan with Cas the day before, but Gordon had gotten to the rendezvous point in Kansas City later than expected, so they had to postpone the meeting. Bobby was still a bit sore over that; he had never particularly liked nor trusted the other hunter, but Gordon could sure as hell kill things.

"Sounds about right." He said, nodding. "If we take this route," he pointed to the second line Dean had traced, " we'll be able to lose followers in all the little access roads branching off of it. It's pretty damn winding too, so that'll help."

"Why not just nuke the place?"

Everyone turned to Gordon, who had spoken.

"After all," he drawled, leaning back and crossing his arms," If your angel buddies take out the demons, we could just wipe the whole place off the map. Nice and clean, we don't have to mop up any messes afterwards; no monsters to sort through and dispatch."

Dean glared at the hunter across the table from him. He had only worked with the man once before, and that had been several years ago, but he had already rediscovered his immense dislike for the brash hunter. A quick glance at the lines on Bobby's face told him that he felt the same way.

"We can't just nuke the place you moron," Bobby hissed, bristling. "Didn't you hear that there are humans there?"

"Not all monsters hurt people," Ellen pitched in, also fixing the man with a steely gaze. "The Administration has regulated what breeds we can't kill because they're not harmful to society. By law we have to check these things out now."

Gordon scowled. "I have a few contacts that could arrange for it to go unnoticed. We wouldn't even have to go to the complex, I'll just make a few quick calls and we'll be on our way outta this mess."

"Dammit Gordon!" Bobby snapped, his palm coming down on the table, "We haven't even properly gotten started yet an you're already throwin' around half-assed plans of your own! I don't know if you've realized, but we're on a time crunch for this job, and we've already got a method that works; we can't afford to have some yahoo workin' out of his mamma's basement try and blow the place up!" He hissed angrily.

A leering grin crept across Gordon's face and he raised his hands submissively. "Whatever you say," he said, his tone a bit mocking, "just trying to make our lives easier is all."

"Sure as hell you are." Bobby muttered under his breath, soft enough that only Dean had heard.

Ellen watched the exchange with a disapproving air, her mouth in a thin line. "You kids want to stop your arguing so we can get a move on?"

Dean shot the woman a thankful look. "Cas should show up with news of how his side of the operation goes tomorrow," he offered, watching the other two men were giving each other guarded stares. "I think we should give everything another once over, check our weapons, pack up a bit and then find some grub."

Ellen, _bless her_, Dean thought, nodded enthusiastically. "Sounds good to me, let's get a move on boys."

* * *

"Ellen, you got the med kits?" Bobby called, his head buried in one of his duffel bags.

"Yeah, what do you want me to do with them?"

The man straightened, scratching his neck with one hand. "I figured you could throw them all in your cab, make your truck our ambulance."

"That's good with me. How many survivors do you think we'll find?" she asked quietly, leaving off the "if any" at the end of her question."Think we need any blankets or anything? I have a few in the back."

Bobby nodded. "I don't know," he replied, "and yeah, wouldn't hurt to drag those along."

He crossed the room to where Dean and Gordon were cleaning weapons on the beds. "How's it coming over here?"

Dean looked up from his pile of arms, which was bigger than Gordon's on, Dean suspected, the account that none of them trusted him quite enough to give him their better guns.

"Almost finished with these," he said, gesturing to a few handguns laying out on the bedspread. "Then I'll move on to the sawed-offs."

"Alright, good. Gordon?"

The man set aside a pistol he'd just finished reassembling and flashed a cocky grin at the older man. "Not bad, but I could use a few beers. When're we planning to hit the town?"

Any good humor Bobby might have had at this time evaporated at the mockingly light tone the other hunter used.

Dean wondered why Bobby had even asked him along, it was clear he couldn't stand him. Gordon seemed to go out of his way to push Bobby's buttons, and they'd had another disagreement earlier that day. Gordon had pressed his idea of nuking the compound regardless of any after effects, and Bobby probably would have blown him away if it weren't for Ellen.

Figuring that the two men's veiled dislike for each other was probably why he had so little experience hunting with Gordon, Dean's lip twitched upward wryly as he speculated on how well the man would have gotten along with his father. Sighing, he finished the gun he was working on and set it aside.

As he looked out the window, he thought it must be nearly dinner time. Apparently his stomach agreed with him, as it suddenly let out a rumbling growl. The stiff atmosphere in the room dissolved a bit and the scowl on Bobby's face loosened.

"I'll help you finish up here and then we'll go get something to eat," he said, grabbing a shotgun from the dwindling pile of not yet serviced firearms.

* * *

_**A/N: **Chapter 4 should be up Sunday, thanks for reading-_

_any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!_

**_~Thanks!~_**


	4. Chapter 4

**_A/N:_**_ As promised, here is the next chapter. Special thanks to followers and those who have reviewed!_

___All mistakes are my own. Special thanks to the one who helps me get my thoughts in line and all around inspires me- you know who you are!_

* * *

_**Warnings: **see first chapter_

_**Disclaimer: **see first chapter_

* * *

**Chapter 3**

The next morning was stressful, to say the least. Dean was woken early by a heated argument between Bobby and Gordon. The two men were standing in the doorway of the motel room; Dean couldn't make out their words due to the low volume of the dispute, but from the discernible tone of the voices and what he could see of their faces, both men were he moved to get up, Bobby spat something that sounded suspiciously like "Christo", leading to Gordon firing back a snide remark, and Bobby responded by shutting the door in the other man's face.

Turning around and facing the room, he sighed heavily and dragged a hand down his face. When he saw dean, he cracked a tired smile. "'Bout time you got up sleeping beauty; I was beginning to think I might have to kiss you."

Dean huffed and stumbled to his duffel bag in search of fresh clothes. "What was that about?"

Scowling, the other man answered. "Gordon called his demolitions expert friend. He keeps pushing for his 'blow up everything' plan."

Dean pulled his shirt over his head, dropping it on top of his bag. "Why is he even here," he asked, digging for clean clothes. "If he's such an asshole, why call him?"

"Because he's available," Bobby grunted,"and he can kill things damn effectively if he doesn't have his head up his ass."

Huffing out a laugh, dean rolled his eyes and pulled on his fresh t-shirt. "Let's hope he pulls it out quick then," he muttered, grabbing his jeans.

Bobby snorted and made his way to the coffee machine sputtering on the counter top of the small kitchenette. "Yeah let's hope." He stopped the coffee maker's drip and grabbed a styrofoam cup off of the stack next to the machine. "I'm assuming you want coffee?"

"Do I ever not?" Dean fired back, buttoning his pants and moving towards the inevitable pull of caffeine. "I can't believe you still ask," he griped,"You've known me since I was like, 7."

Bobby cracked a grin and handed Dean a cup of his own. "Idjit." Looking his watch, Bobby raised an eyebrow. "We'd better get goin'; make any last minute checks we need to."

As Dean took a generous swig of the coffee, he sputtered. "This stuff tastes like asphalt," he exclaimed, glaring down at the dark liquid, "how the hell do you call this coffee?"

Bobby shot him a steely look. "I you don't like it, you don't have to drink it." That being said, the elder hunter turned and walked to his bag, slinking it over his shoulder and exiting the room.

Giving his "coffee" one last dark look, Dean swallowed the bitter liquid down and threw his empty cup in the trash. Grabbing up his own already prepared bag for the mission, he headed out the door after Bobby.

Ellen was outside as well, stuffing several first aid kits under the back seat of her truck. Bobby was loading his own vehicle; Dean could see him rearranging several boxes of salt rounds on the floorboards. Gordon had not yet emerged from his room.

Walking across the motel's parking lot to the impala, Dean opened the back passenger door and stuffed his duffel bag inside. After getting his bag situated, he opened the trunk, taking care to make sure that no civilians could see into it from the surrounding lot or the windows of the motel rooms. It was force of habit mostly, ever since hunting became a widely recognized profession there was no need to hide, but hunters still had the authorities called on them regularly due to their arsenals. Propping the trunk open with a discretely placed shotgun, Dean made sure everything he needed for this job was placed neatly and where he could get at it.

"Dean?" That was Bobby. "You got any extra consecrated iron rounds?"

"Consecrated iron?" He called over his shoulder, "I think so..." Rummaging around a bit, he found a box of rounds he though the could spare and waved it at Bobby. " 'This be enough?"

The older man trotted over to the impala and took the box, opening it and eyeing it's contents quickly. "Yeah that should do it." He happened to glance over the weapons and ammo packing the hidden space in the bottom of the trunk, and he raised an eyebrow. "What the hell ya idjit, you ain't got any cuffs?"

It was Dean's turn to act surprised. "Uh...No, dad never did see the point in em; we never really took jobs that required bringing monsters in alive so we never had much use for them. Guess I still haven't had need enough to scrounge up a pair."

Bobby hummed in his throat and adjusted his cap. "Tell you what, In case we do need to drag any critters back with us, I'll trade you a set for the ammo."

Dean shrugged. He didn't want to bring any monsters back in _his_ car. Baby would never forgive him. He figured that Bobby would push the issue though, so he just shrugged his shoulders.

"Alright then." The older man said, turning away and walking back to his own vehicle.

"Hey Dean-o," Gordon called, emerging from his room. "Any word on your angel?"

His hackles automatically raised by the use of a belittling nickname, Dean didn't even turn around to dignify an answer.

"Hey, come on now," the drawling voice was much closer now. "There's no need to be that way, I'm just asking if you've had any word from on high."

Huffing out a sigh and closing the Impala's trunk, Dean answered. "No, I haven't heard anything yet." He deflected further commenting by asking a question of his own. "Do you have the stuff for drawing the devils' traps?"

"Sure do," Gordon replied, patting the backpack he had slung over one shoulder. "That's what I'm here for, right? I also have that extra ammo and salt Singer wanted; Gordon's supply train, at your service." The last part was said with a noticeable dash of sarcasm and a mocking half-bow.

Dean was not impressed, and made his way back towards his room with ought another word to the standoffish hunter. He made a quick detour to grab the promised cuffs from Bobby, then moved to the door. Once inside their shared room, he made another check to make sure he had everything ready to head out. Satisfied, he tucked his favorite pistol and the demon blade into the waistband of his jeans and shrugged on his leather jacket.

Bobby came through the door a moment later, the dark look on his scruffy face inevitably telling of another clash with Gordon. Before Dean could open his mouth to ask however, the older hunter had made his way to the bathroom and slammed the door behind him.

Dean huffed and rolled his eyes; Bobby had certainly gotten more irritable since they began working with Gordon. He hoped that Ellen would be able to defuse the tension between them, she seemed to be doing a pretty good job of it already. huffing out a short, wry laugh at the mental image of the smallish woman trying to hold a raging Bobby back from killing Gordon while on their hunt, Dean looked out the window absently. Ellen was now folding blankets and stuffing them under the back seat of her truck, next to the med kits.

Dean heard a slight sound behind him and turned around, expecting to see Bobby out of the bathroom and shuffling around making any needed last minute preparations. Instead of finding the gruff older man puttering around as he initially thought, he started when he found a stoic angel standing stiffly within his personal bubble.

"_Dammit_ _Cas_," he hissed loudly, "what have I told you about personal space?!"

* * *

_**A/N: **Chapter 5 should be up next Sunday, thanks for reading-_

_any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!_

**_~Thanks!~_**


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N:** And here is the next chapter. Sorry for updating late, a few things I had neglected in other areas of my life caught up with me._

_*notices lateness*_

_*throws chapter*_

_*dives back into pit of darkness*_

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **see first chapter_

_**Warnings: **see first chapter_

* * *

**Chapter 4**

The old warehouse the demon was holed up in was huge, and as the hunters began unloading their vehicles, Dean found himself increasingly thankful for the fact that the angels had already taken down the vast majority of Zenesre's underlings. Dragging a box of salt rounds from the trunk and filling his pockets, the hunter rummaged through the Impala's arsenal and picked out the weapons he had set aside to take with him; a second pistol was tucked into his waistband, and an extra knife found it's way into his boot. The other three hunters were similarly armed with pistols, sawed-offs, and knives of their own.

Castiel had appeared in the passenger seat of the Impala about thirty minutes out from their destination, and aside from the slight fishtailing of the car, Dean thought he was able to take the angel's sudden appearance quite well, _thank you very much_. Before they entered the complex, they went over the plan one more time.

"Alright, Cas," Dean started, "you said your guys have cleared out the top two floors of this place, and Zenesre should be on the third, right?"

The angel nodded. "We were careful. If our timing is right, she will not be expecting us."

"Ok good. Since most of the demons are cleared, we shouldn't really have to be too cautious until we get the the third floor down, but we still shouldn't drop our guard."

The other hunters nodded, though Gordan was still looking disgruntled from his earlier disagreements with Bobby.

Dean nodded once at the group slowly. They were ready. "Whatever fugglies the demon's been hoarding should be on the fourth floor down, so after we gank this bitch we can go down there and deal with them."

After a few more short words and a double check of their weapons, the small group moved towards the doors. As they slipped inside, Dean readied his pistol and curled his left hand around the handle of his demon blade. "Gordon, you and I will go in first," he said softly, looking around the dim hallway they had entered. "Cas, you come after us incase we need your angel mojo; Bobby and Ellen, cover our backs."

Now in position, they eased forward. Dean and Gordon quietly pushed open any doors branching off if the main hall, finding mostly empty, dilapidated rooms that were probably used for storage once upon a time. The top floor of the warehouse complex was practically deserted; any untrained personel who entered would have believed it to have been empty for years. A few bodies, the shells of hosts left behind by demons who had most likely patrolled the ground floor, told the hunters a different story.

Finding the stairwell that led to the lower levels, Dean signaled to Castiel "How many living demons do you think we've got to watch out for?" he asked in a low voice, eying the dark passage before them."You think they've found the ones you offed on the upper floors yet?"

"It is unlikely," the angel said, looking down at the grimy stairs leading deeper into the complex's belly. "The demon's patrols are small, and get less frequent on the lower levels. They have become somewhat to comfortable with their own suspected power. However, it would be extremely unwise to ignore caution."

"Alright then," Dean muttered, shifting the grip he had on his gun. "You heard the man, let's get going."

For the second floor, they split into two groups, Dean and Bobby covered the rooms and halls to the left, Gordon, Ellen and Castiel to the right. This floor was also seemingly abandoned, though Dean's group alone discovered the corpses of eight hosts. By the time they had gone through all the halls, Dean was feeling almost desperate to find a living human. Doubling back to the stairs, the hunters regrouped and prepared for the third floor; on the two floors, a total of 14 dead humans had been found. Not one had survived demonic possession. The group continued to the stairs in grim silence.

A moment later, Castiel spoke up, saying Dean's name to catch his attention.

"Yeah?" Dean replied absently, turning back to the angel, though his eyes were still resolutely fixed on the stairwell.

"I can go no further with you, the levels below here have been warded." He tilted his head slightly. "Did I not warn you of this before?"

Dean sighed. "Yeah, you told us. I guess we'll be managing on our own from now on, then."

* * *

There were only four guards on the third floor; two groups of two. One milled around the halls under the pretense of vigilance, and the other was stationed outside of what Dean suspected was Zenesre's main place of operation. It was sort of sad really, how overconfident this demon seemed to be; the patrols on the first and second floors had been eliminated nearly an hour ago, and none of the hell-spawn on this level even suspected.

The demons that were supposed to be patrolling were easy targets, and as there were only two of them, it made the hunter's lives significantly less difficult. Dean and Gordon were able to dispatch one of them by stealth, creeping up behind it's male host and driving Dean's knife deep into it's shoulder. The second demon was substantially more of a chore. It became apparent, once the demon realized they were there, that the demons present on the lower floor of the complex were higher up in the food chain than most of what Dean was used too.

The remaining demon's eyes flickered briefly to a sickening shade of amber, and it's face contorted in a snarl. It had managed to throw Gordon into an old filing cabinet before he could react, and as the man thudded to the ground, Dean was thankful that they were in one of the hallways farthest from the office; they had briefly scoped out the entire floor before waiting for the patrol in a secluded area. Once Gordon had dragged himself to his feet, he and Dean, the only two hunters visible to the demon at the moment, backed up into the hall. Where they were now, there was only a wall behind them; for all purposes, they were cornered.

The Demons face split into a dark grin. "You can't just go around poking your flimsy little knives into everything _hunter_," it spat. "Some things will poke back."

Before either of them had a chance to react, Dean found himself pinned to the wall, and his knife clattered across the floor and towards the demon. "_Dammit_" he hissed painfully; he could practically feel his innards beginning to press against the back of his ribs. Through bleary eyes get could see Gordon in a similar position.

_Come on Bobby._

The demon took a few steps forward, bending down and leisurely picking up the knife Dean had dropped when it threw him.

_Just a few more feet_, Dean thought, _Please keep moving,damn you._

The creature tutted. "Well well, what a naughty hunter you are. Where'd you get this, hmm?" It turned the knife over in it's hand, and the serrated metal glinted coldly in the dim half-light of the hall. "I've only known a handful of our kind considered worthy to hold a blade like this..." It grimaced and it's eyes glinted a reddish orange again. "Last one I can think of was Ruby... Tell me," it continued, obviously enjoying the two hunters fruitless struggling and it's chance to flaunt it's power over them. " Did you know that Jake had to screw her to get it?"

_Now would be a good time, Bobby!,_ Dean mentally shouted, still unable to speak due to the invisible pressure on his throat. His eyes involuntarily flicked to the side room where Bobby and Ellen were hiding, the doorway several meters behind the demon, before traveling back to the monster in question.

The demon kept going." After he died, I hear she stuck around for a while..." It's mocking gaze turned once again to Dean. "Did you have to fuck her for this too? Seems a steep price for anyone's ego to pay for a trinket like this."

"_Singer!_" Gordon grated out, managing to get his vocal chords working, "get your ass in here!"

The Demon stiffened as the hunter's cover was blown, whipping around right as a strategically thrown brick left Ellen's hand and hit it square in the chest. Staggering backward, the demon flung out a hand towards the newly appeared hunters, only to freeze when nothing happened.

Behind the demon, Dean and Gordon were picking themselves up off the floor, breathing heavily. Dean sent a tired grin up towards the devil's trap drawn of the ceiling. Those things were awesome. "Tell us about Zenesre." He demanded, still out of breath and straightening up fully. "Why is she harvesting the souls of monsters?"

The demon bared it's teeth. "As if I would tell you. You hunters are so conceited."

"You're sure one to talk," Ellen huffed.

"I'll ask you one more time," Dean said grimly. "Then it's back to the pit with you."

The creature'a eyes widened a fraction before it's fear was masked by another show of belligerence. "I'll just claw my way back out. Apparently, I'll have a grudge to take care of when I do... And even if you die before I can get free, I'll just be there waiting for you." To punctuate it's less then threatening threat, the demon flung Dean's knife at Ellen, who simply sidestepped and let it fly past her.

His lips quirking, Dean retrieved it and turned back to the demon. "Sorry, but I never said I was sending you back to hell." Saying that, he stepped quickly into the space of the devil' strap and sunk the knife into the demon's belly. It's hate filled eyes burned into Dean with a startling fury, before slowly going dark.

"Why'd you do that ya moron?" Bobby asked gruffly," We didn't get any information from that thing whatsoever! Not to mention we have zero chance of gettin' any now."

Dean shook his head and wiped his knife off on the demon's clothes. " Nah," he said. "We wouldn't have gotten anything out of that bastard. He was too much of a dick to give us any dirt on Zenesre anyways."

* * *

_**A/N: **Once again I apologize profusely for the late update. As usual, I'll do my best to get the next chapter up by Sunday._

_also, Sam should finally make his appearance late in the chapter. (how did i set out to write a story that practically revolves around him and then manage to not have him show his face until chapter five seriously)_

_Anyways, don't be afraid to let me know how I'm doing_

**_~Thanks!~_**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** _Well it's certainly been much longer than I expected between this chapter and the last, and I realize that there really isn't and excuse that can make it up to my dear readers. I have learned my lesson, and with the added problem of finals hanging over my head, I am no longer promising weekly updates for the time being. I will update as soon as I can, and while it will take a while for the next few chapters to be posted due to schedule, I will get them to you as soon as I can. Once again, I'm **So **sorry for the ridiculously late chapter. _

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_**Disclaimer: **see first chapter_

**_Warnings:_**_ see first chapter_

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**Chapter 5**

Carefully glancing around the corner in the hallway leading to Zenesre's office, Dean wondered again how he had managed to end up as the one to play bait for the remaining two sentries. _Oh yeah_, he thought. _I volunteered_.

It was obvious that neither Bobby or Ellen trusted Gordon well enough to send him to draw the demons towards their trap, and Dean wouldn't stand for one of the two older hunters going.

_So here I am_.

Dean could see the two demon possessed men making soft conversation by the closed door of the office, and he ducked back around the corner, mentally going back over their plan. Gordon and Bobby had drawn another key of Solomon in one of the side rooms branching off the main hallway, and Dean needed to get the demons there without alerting Zenesre. Easier said than done.

Ducking back behind the wall, Dean took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. _Showtime._

He walked a few paces down the hallway and ducked silently into a small, unkempt side room. Looking around for a moment, he picked up a decent sized chunk of fallen plaster. Moving into the hall once again with his chosen projectile in hand, he made his way down the hall to the where the next branch in the passage was. The room the other hunters were waiting in was another two turns down a side hall off to the left of where the main hall split. Taking another deep breath, Dean briefly tested the weight of the plaster he carried, then slung it towards the end of the hall where the demons were stationed. It bounced off the far wall with a dull thump and rebounded onto the hallway floor. A moment later, one of the sentries appeared.

As soon as he was sure that the demon was alerted, Dean took off towards where the other hunters waited, making sure that his footsteps were loud enough to be followed. He slid to a stop when he reached the specified side room, pausing briefly to confirm that his pursuers would get a glimpse of room he ducked into.

As he entered the smaller space, Dean did a quick check of where everyone was. Bobby was positioned behind the door, with the demon killing knife gripped tightly in his hand. Ellen had stowed herself away behind an old filing cabinet, with her sawed-off keeping her company. It took a moment longer for Dean to spot Gordon, the man had managed to scrounge up a fairly large section of old drywall, which he had turned into a kind of protective wall.

"Get in here dammit!" Bobby hissed softly, waving Dean over to where Gordon was hidden.

Taking the hint, Dean scrambled behind the sheet of drywall just as the first demon entered the room.  
Bobby sprung into action, appearing suddenly behind the demon with Dean's knife at the ready. He sank the blade into the creature's lower back, clapping his other hand over its mouth and dragging it backward. As the reddish sparks signifying the demon's death danced through the hosts body, Bobby let the demon slide to the floor soundlessly.

A brief moment later, cautious footsteps were heard. "Eza?" A voice hissed, "Eza, what's going on?"

_If we play this right and get lucky we could finish this up without an exorcism_. Dean mused. _If we can take this SOB out like the last one, it'd sure as hell make it easier on us._

A quick glance at the other hunters told Dean all he needed to glean that their thoughts were moving in the same direction.

Bobby had positioned himself out of sight behind the door again when the demon spoke, and the other hunters shrunk farther back into their respective hiding places. A moment later, the second demon entered the room slowly, moving suspiciously through the doorway.

Dean, who was_Going to do this with out having to stumble through Latin if at all possible, Dammit_, shifted slightly, consciously making just enough sound that it would draw the demons attention away from the side of the room where Bobby was. Black eyes flickered over to the corner where he and Gordon were settled, and Dean could feel a heated glare coming from the hunter next to him. _Asshole_, Dean thought, a bit spitefull. As his familiarity with Gordon increased, Dean's dislike of the man increased as well.

Dean's thought process was interrupted by the the demon taking a few steps further into the room, and unfortunately noticing the devil's trap carefully painted on the crumbling ceiling panels.

"_Hunters,_" the thing spat, it's eyes flicking black angrily. One of it's hands flung up and towards the symbol, and a jagged crack appeared through the middle, effectively disabling it. Swinging around towards where Dean and Gordon were hidden, the demon contorted it's hand into a sort of claw, and swept it to the side.

Unfortunately for the hunters, the drywall panel they were hiding behind followed the motion of the creature's wrist, and it was violently dragged away from them. Dean and Gordon were now uncovered and face to face with a very pissed off demon.

His eyes flicking nervously to where Ellen and Bobby were still unnoticed on the other side of the room, Dean managed to crack a lopsided grin despite his apprehension. He often felt that when facing down angry hell-spawn with only ineffective weapons at his disposal. Damn, he wanted the comforting weight of his knife in his fist. "Hey asshat, how you doin'?" he said, "Sorry about your friend, but uh, we had a disagreement."

It was painfully obvious that Dean was stalling, and it showed on the demon's progressively darkening face. However, whatever the demon had to say in reply was cut off in a choked sounding gurgle, and the tip of Dean's knife glinted from where it had suddenly sprouted from the demon's neck.

As the thing's corpse thudded to the grungy floor, Bobby stared down at it impassively. "Damn shame,' he muttered,"you two were just startin' to get cozy."

"Aw shut up Bobby," Dean groused, though there was no heat in his words. "Now give me my freaking knife."

The older man chuckled and bent down, wiping the red-dripping blade on the dead demon's shirt. "Yeah yeah, whatever." Straightening, he flipped the knife over and held it out to Dean, handle towards the younger hunter. "Let's get going, we still got one more nasty sumbitch to get rid of."

* * *

_Cold._ that was the first thing his muddled mind registered as his eyes blinked open. of course, it was always cold down here. He had trouble remembering the time before the creatures came and brought him here. Opening his eyes didn't do much for him, it was too dark. The handlers must have shut of the lights while he was sleeping. He slept a lot.

Shivering, he huddled farther into himself and felt a soft blanket of down instinctively shift tighter around him. As he curled up under the relative warmth, he felt a slight change in the energy signatures coming from above. He could feel them, becoming agitated and moving around. A few moments later, several of them disappeared abruptly, one after the other.

That had never happened before, and the sudden change in routine caused fear to creep into his thoughts. His eyes felt heavy though, he couldn't think straight, and he blearily wondered that, if he could get his bindings off, if he could just get free of the cuffs, then maybe he could_ think, _maybe he could do_ something _other than sleep_. _But even as this road of thought passed through his mind, it left just as quickly, and his last lucid observation before falling under the powerful influence of sleep was that, thankfully, he was a little warmer now than when he had first woken.

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**A/N: **_once again, my sincere apologies for my lack of a timely update. I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think if you would be so kind as to take the time! _


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